RBS Still Mired In Tar Sands

posted by Brant Ran

Last Summer we had a rather public row with RBS over its role in bankrolling fossil fuel expansion. Since then, the Bank’s PR team has been working overtime to clear the bank’s name — even releasing a 10-page report dedicated to the topic. Trouble is, its bankers continue to close lucrative deals in the tar sands — even opening a shiny new office in Calgary.

Those bankers have been busy. All told, RBS has raised more than $9.2 billion for companies operating in the tar sands since it was bailed out by British taxpayers in 2008. More than $2 billion of that total was raised just in the last six months since the bank produced it’s glossy report.

Let’s look into the deals RBS brokered in the last six months:

Enbridge: $ 100 Million

A proposed massive new pipeline from the tar sands through the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest to a tanker port on the coast of British Columbia. RBS ran the books together with RBC, HSBC and Deutsche Bank on a $400 million bond issued by Enbridge last Septemeber. Each bank earned an estimated $87.5 million on the deal.

Kinder Morgan: $275 Million

A proposed a competing West-Coast pipeline through the Great Bear Rainforest. This one from the tar sands to a tanker port near Vancouver, BC. RBS led the bond deal in February.

French Oil company building a massive new tar sands strip mine. CEO says tar sands are the future: ‘”To justify our massive investments in the oil sands, we’re looking at what the world will look like in 2020, 2025 or 2030,” he told a reporter in 2009. RBS led the bond deal in January.

Marathon: $600 Million

The midwest oil refiner spent $2.2 billion to retool it’s Detroit refinery to take more tar sands. Meanwhile, its neighbors are worried about more asthma and cancer. RBS led the bond deal in January.

Was RBS alone in supporting these businesses? No. Many banks were involved.

*A note on numbers. All the numbers quoted here are pulled from Bloomberg, which ranks banks according to the value of deals they lead in a particular sector. These numbers are the value of those deals, not the value of RBS ownership or interest in those securities.